Sport & Story Daily February 13, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

February 13, 2024

Good morning! The Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift dust has settled—let’s talk biz

How Super Bowl Overtime Commercials Are Sold
When the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chief and San Francisco 49ers went into overtime, those paying attention to the commercials may have wondered: What happens now with the ads?
^adage.com

Behind the Massive Super Bowl Ad Buy For Homes.com and Apartments.com
One of the Super Bowl’s biggest advertisers was a company few viewers would know by name, even if the Homes.com and Apartments.com brands rang a bell. Real estate company CoStar Group, which owns both sites, invested around $35 million in spots for the game. As Ad Age’s Adrianne Pasquarelli writes, “The massive spend is only the beginning as the company plots a year-long advertising blitz for Homes.com, which made up the bulk of CoStar’s Big Game buy.”
^adage.com

Tiger Woods Starts a New Year With a New Look Now That His Nike Deal Has Ended
As AP News’ Doug Ferguson writes, “Woods and Nike ended 27 years together at the end of last year. He wore the swoosh on his shirt for the final time at the PNC Championship that he played with his son, Charlie, who was wearing clothes from a different apparel company.

Woods had a news conference scheduled for Monday at 5:30 p.m. PST outside the gates of Riviera to discuss what he will be wearing in the limited tournaments he plays.

All signs point to TaylorMade. Woods already plays their golf clubs, and TaylorMade Lifestyle Ventures has filed four trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “Sunday Red” or “SDR.”
^apnews.com

Barstool, Draftkings Deal Launches Minutes After Super Bowl Ends
As part of its separation from Penn Entertainment last year, Barstool was prohibited from partnering with another sportsbook until the end of the NFL season. Less than an hour after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, Barstool owner Dave Portnoy posted a video on Twitter announcing the partnership.

“We’re back to our roots,” Portnoy said in the post. “[DraftKings] is once again the exclusive betting partner of Barstool Sports.”
^sportico.com

Kevin Harlan Had an Instant Classic Radio Call of the Chiefs' Game-Winning Super Bowl Touchdown
Kevin Harlan has made incredible calls in his professional broadcasting career and during Super Bowl 58, he made yet another.

Harlan, who is a three-time National Sportscaster of the Year, has spent 39 consecutive seasons doing play-by-play for NFL games. As the lead NFL voice on the Westwood One network, this season marked his 14th year in a row calling the national radio broadcast of the Super Bowl.

The final possession of the game was a stellar touchdown pass from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Mecole Hardman. Using just his voice, Harlan was able to capture all of the excitement everyone who was watching felt.
^{ftw.usatoday.com}

How the Chiefs Shape Their Roster Will Be a Top Story to Follow in the Offseason
As AP News’ Rob Maaddi writes, “ The Kansas City Chiefs are a dynasty and already are looking to become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era.

Getting to New Orleans to play for the Vince Lombardi Trophy next February will be difficult for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. There’s no guarantee Travis Kelce isn’t retiring, Chris Jones is set to become a free agent and even coach Andy Reid could ride off into the sunset.

Perhaps that’s why the Chiefs are not the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl next year. The San Francisco 49ers are plus-450 to win it all, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.”
^apnews.com

Super Bowl’s Las Vegas Debut: Was It Good for the City and the NFL?
As the Front Office Sports staff reports, “The NFL fully embraced the home of sports betting, complete with league branding taking over casinos and sportsbooks, as well as some of the hottest bars and nightclubs.

Now, the question is: Will the NFL bring its title game back to Sin City? And if so, when? It could return as soon as 2028 (Super Bowl hosts are set through ’27). The NFL loved Las Vegas as a host city due to its world-class hotels, entertainment, and dining. But there is a powerful business element in the Nevada desert that doesn’t want the Big Game coming back for an encore, sources say.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

UCLA Names Former Bruins RB DeShaun Foster New Coach
UCLA hired former star player and longtime assistant coach DeShaun Foster as the school's next head coach on a five-year contract, a source told ESPN.

Foster, who had taken a job as the Las Vegas Raiders' running backs coach earlier this month, is in the UCLA Hall of Fame as a player, served 10 years in various roles at the school and played seven seasons in the NFL. He emerged among a pool of 11 candidates interviewed by UCLA, many of whom were sitting head coaches.

As ESPN’s Pete Thamel writes, “Foster impressed the UCLA brass with his ability to lead and command a room. Per sources, school officials believe Foster can resonate in the Los Angeles market and emphasize recruiting and fundraising, part of the paradigm shift college football is undergoing in the era of name, image and likeness deals.”
^espn.com

Sources: Hornets President Mitch Kupchak Moving to Adviser Role
As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports, “Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak is stepping down to become an organizational adviser, clearing the way for the franchise to begin an immediate search for a new head of basketball operations, sources told ESPN on Monday morning.

Kupchak, 69, would be completing a remarkably successful career that included 10 championships as a front-office executive and player.
^espn.com

A Legal Scouting Report For What’s Next in Dartmouth Basketball
As Sportico’s Michael McCann writes, “On March 5, the 15 players on Dartmouth men’s basketball team will vote on whether Service Employees International Union Local 560 represents them as a union. The election will take place on Dartmouth’s campus in Hanover, New Hampshire. While the outcome—widely expected to be in the affirmative—might not be made public until a later date (more on that below), it will send shock waves through college sports.”
^sportico.com

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